God Slapped My Hand
A few weeks ago, I went to a podcasting conference here in Los Angeles. Toward the end of the second day, I had this warm glow of an idea for a new podcast. That night, I went to sleep under the intoxication of my big plans for starting this project in the morning.
The next day, I sat down at my desk to do that thing you do at the very beginning of something. Pen? Check. Paper? Check. Laptop firmly closed? Check!
Roll your shoulders.
Stretch your back.
Crack your knuckles.
Alright.
LFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
…
Nothing happened. I was sitting there, totally prepared to scribble as fast as I could to try to keep up with a fevered brain full of ideas, but…
There were no ideas. There was nothing to write. My mind was blank. Like, zen buddhist master zero thoughts blank.
What?!
This doesn’t happen to me. Ideas are never in short supply. Say one word, or even point at some random object, and I can pontificate for-literally-ever. I can go on and on and on, convincing myself and (believe this) almost anyone in earshot that something meaningful is happening.
Brainstorming is not the hard part.
Which is why starting projects is my favorite. Outlining all the things. Connecting as many dots as possible. Crafting a big, beautiful plan. That good energy can get me through at least the first few weeks of any venture.
But to sit down and have NOTHING? To call the experience anomalous would be an understatement.
Ask, and ye shall be chastised
Sometimes, when I pray, I seem to get answers. Whether those answers come from GOD ALMIGHTY, or from the neglected, wiser recesses of my own brain — I’m not sure it matters.
The point is when I asked what the hell was going on, the answer was clear:
“THOU SHALT NOT START ANOTHER STUPID PROJECT UNTIL THOU SHALT FINISH THY STUPID BOOK.”
Let me explain.
For the past six months or so, I’ve set a lot of things aside in an effort to finish the current draft of Arch/Eternal. This will be the draft that I send to a bunch of readers for a final round of feedback. And I’m very close.
But then I hit a snag — a frustrating problem that interrupted my momentum, and let nearly a month slide by with no progress at all.
Then I went to this conference, and had this awesome idea for a new podcast.
NO.
OK!
I returned to the book. And wouldn’t you know it, the problem that had scared me away resolved almost immediately.
I’m so close to the end now that the momentum is almost overwhelming. I’m at that beautiful phase where working on it is what I do when I’m avoiding other things!
Anyway, I didn’t actually plan on writing all this today. What I planned on doing was to reshare this:
Almost two years old! And can you guess what inspired that post way back then? That’s right!
Anyway. That’s my update. I don’t want to make any promises or anything but I will one hundred percent for sure be done with this draft next week.
Whoops.
Buttons
Look at my cool button collection. If you click on one, you’ll have your favorite celebrity’s baby.
YAY!!!!!!!!!! DO IT! And geez, I so get this....
i like the idea of creative fideltiy. interesting post. i'm on v10 of the same project. nine-year journey to get here. it won' t let me go. funny how creativity has a mind of its own